Discussions By Condition: Mental conditions

ADHD or just stupidity?

for as long as i can remember i have been having trouble with thinking - it seems that there are too many thoughts going through my head and at too high a speed to keep track of everything.

it feels very difficult to think clearly and calmly, and to concentrate for an extended time. it's hard to follow a train of thought. i get lost outside easily, and i find it embarrassing.

too many times i will do something without thinking first and then only realize after, whether it's a few seconds after or a few hours or a few days, that a little forethought could have prevented a simple, careless mistake (which i have many of every day). i find it's difficult to articulate my thoughts when i am speaking and the only place i can think at least somewhat clearly is in the bathroom.

this problem has recently been aggravated by my girlfriend who has none of these issues, it's seriously depressing knowing that every day when i walk out the door a large amount of stupid, careless mistakes await me that i can't seem to avoid no matter how hard i try because my thoughts are whisking themselves away.

i've taken Focalin, Straterra, and adderall but this doesn't change my pattern of thinking. i've always had problems doing homework, just the concentration required escapes me. so much so that i left junior high and and did independent study for 5 years math for me is a joke, i can't seem to do anything above basic algebra. i lose things all the time. am i just stupid? or do i have an overactive hippocampus (part of the brain that controls emotions)? if i don't control myself i seem to get emotional too easily and get irritated over things which shouldn't irritate me. is this just my personality? or related to my family, everyone in it seems at least somewhat similar. i was told i might have dyslexia however as i am aware that only affects reading.i don't know what to do.

3 Replies:

Same here (hence the name). I'd drive out somewhere and end up going to the wrong place, then unable to remember where I should have been. I can't find the car again and have to look at the keys to remember which of our cars it was. I can't learn my simple cellphone or the um, bank interface - what do they call that thing again? I can't speak any language without effort. Writing is easier as I can edit. It helps knowing several languages as I can look up words between them, but it's abnormal and slow. There may be physical reasons, who knows. According to cheirology / palmistry, astrology, numerology etc, I should be very clever and psychic as well. (I studied these fields myself.) Some of it comes through: hearing voices and threats of insanity. I've tried meds, they don't help and have side-effects.I have always thought that this cover of stupidity is protecting me - that I would attract evil attention otherwise. At first I thought this is just a game to feel better, but the more I learn of how evil others can be (even invisible others) the more sense it makes. The main card in the Tarot is "The Fool" and many mystics were proud of being fools. During the great Muslim civilization, when a Sultan had to make a tough decision, he'd sit and chat all day with a retarded person, or even go to a madhouse and sit between the insane, crying and waiting for light. Would your president ever be that concerned?I can confidently intuit that you are (1) not stupid and (2) very spiritual. It is in the acoustic space of your writing. And how many clever people can figure that, hmmm? Do yourself a favour, get the book "The Soul's Code" by James Hillman, ISBN 0446673714 or 0679445226 - not to be confused with other "secret code" stuff. Einstein and many others were thought to be retarded.